A trial opening in Baghdad today will shed new light on a secret Pentagon programme in which US snipers allegedly planted fake weapons as 'bait' to lure their Iraqi enemies to their deaths.

Sergeant Evan Vela is accused of murdering an unarmed Iraqi man and an attempted cover-up. He has admitted that he fired two bullets at point-blank range into a detainee's head but said he was following a direct order.

His court martial comes after those of two fellow snipers in an embarrassing saga which has blown the cover of an alleged classified 'baiting' programme in which snipers scatter ammunition, detonation cords or other items, then lie in wait to shoot insurgents who pick them up.

The tactic emerged earlier this year when Captain Matthew Didier, a platoon commander in an elite sniper unit known as the 'Painted Demons', told a military court:

'Baiting is putting an object out there that we know they will use, with the intention of destroying the enemy.'Basically, we would put an item out there and watch it. If someone found the item, picked it up and attempted to leave with the item, we would engage the individual as I saw this as a sign they would use the item against US forces.'

Didier claimed that members of the US military's Asymmetric Warfare Group visited his unit in January and later supplied ammunition boxes filled with 'drop items' to be deployed as bait. Soldiers told the Washington Post that about a dozen platoon members were aware of the programme, and that others knew about the 'drop items' but did not know their purpose. Vela, team leader Michael Hensley and Jorge Sandoval were members of the 'Painted Demons', which had a reputation for notching 'kills' at a high rate in the so-called 'triangle of death' south of Baghdad. They were charged with the murders of three Iraqis during US operations in the spring.

Last week Hensley, an expert marksman from the 1st Battalion, 501st Airborne, was cleared of murder charges but reprimanded and demoted on lesser charges of planting an AK-47 rifle beside the body of a dead Iraqi and disrespecting an officer.

Last month Sandoval was found not guilty on two murder charges but was demoted from specialist to private and is serving a 44-day sentence for planting a detonation cord on the body of an Iraqi.

Vela is charged with premeditated murder, planting a weapon, making false statements and obstruction of justice. The first pre-trial hearing is today.

Lawyers for the snipers have argued that the baiting programme is relevant to their defence because it shows how officials backed unorthodox methods of killing not only insurgents but also unarmed men thought to be enemy combatants.

James Culp, Vela's attorney, has said:

'I don't know how far up the chain this baiting programme goes right now. I know the government is trying to dummy this down to the lowest level possible.'

He added:

'Our government is asking soldiers and Marines to make morally bruising decisions under the most horrific conditions imaginable. When the government doesn't like the results, they isolate and vilify the soldier while hiding behind security clearances, classifications and unreasonable expectations.'

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US military officers in Baghdad deny the existence of a baiting programme. The court barred most classified material from Hensley's court martial.

Sonntag, 4. November 2007

The fiercest, longest and most lethal firefight took place in the early hours of Saturday September 8 south of Garmsir in Helmand province.

Corporal Ben Umley, 26, fingered a hole in his helmet where a bullet penetrated and fell out inside.

Some time before, he had drawn a smiley face in white marker just next to the hole. It may have brought him luck but the corporal doesn't like the word; his friend died in the attack and later, a sergeant died trying to bring out the friend's body. "I can smile, but he can't," he says. "It's not about luck."

The corporal's platoon was crossing open ground when it came under fire from the Taliban. In the chaos, it was difficult to work out who was hit and where they were, and where the enemy would attack from again, and when.

Two soldiers were shot, one in the head and one in the leg and stomach. Then Private Johann Botha, a South African soldier, was hit and could not be found. Screaming could be heard over the radio: "They're coming to get him," and "Don't leave me."

Sergeant Michael Lockett, 27, extracted his injured men and knew he would have to leave his fatality behind. "I got them behind a position called the three walls and I radioed Brels [Sergeant Craig Breslford] and told him about Botha, that I didn't want to go anywhere till I had got him out. He said 'No dramas, I'll get him back for you'. He was moving forward in sections and Brelsy got shot in the neck. [He died in the attack]. They had to extract him." After stocking up with more ammunition and water, the men returned to the combat zone. "We had to find Botha and extract him," said Sgt Lockett.

"When we got back that night we felt like shit. Everyone was crying for six to eight hours solid. I'm still not sure that it has really hit me yet."

Brigadier John Lorimer, commander of 12 Mechanised Brigade, of which the Mercians are a part, said: "Over the last six months, 30 UK soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan, all but two in Helmand.

"Our main effort now is to look after those who have been injured - both physically and psychologically - and their families."

He added that the brigade had "a quiet sense of professional satisfaction that we had done a good job", though there was a "hell of a long way to go". He said: "It has been worth the effort and the sacrifices the brigade has made."

But one soldier, who preferred not to be named, disagreed. "Did we make a difference? Yes, we have killed Taliban but the worst thing you ever want to do is lose a man and at the moment I don't think it's for a valid reason or a cause."

A committee of MPs is to investigate fears that up to 20,000 UK troops who served in Iraq and Afghanistan are at risk of brain damage after being exposed to high-powered explosions.

It was revealed last week that the Ministry of Defence has launched a major study into mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) in soldiers returning from active service.

MTBI, cuased by blows to the head or shockwaves by explosions, has been named in the US as one of four "signature injuries" of the Iraq war, due to the increased use of roadside bombs there and in Afghanistan. The condition can lead to memory loss, depression and anxiety.

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The US army says a many as 20% of its soldiers and marines may be at risk of MTBI. It is introducing a largescale screening programme for troops returning from the frontline.